All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship

The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship was a hurling competition organized by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland. The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker counties. In the years from 1961 to 1973 and from 1997 until now, the strong counties have competed for the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship instead. The competition was then restricted to the weaker counties. The competition was discontinued after 2004 as these counties now compete for the Nicky Rackard Cup instead.

From 1974 to 1982, the original format of the competition was abandoned, and the competition was incorporated in Division 3 of the National Hurling League. The original format, including the strong hurling counties was re-introduced in 1983.

Participating teams
The competition was originally contested by the second teams of the strong counties, and the first teams of the weaker counties. In the years from 1961 to 1973 and from 1997 until now, the strong counties have competed for the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship instead. The competition was then restricted to the weaker counties. The competition was discontinued after 2004 as these counties now compete for the Nicky Rackard Cup instead.

Format
The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship features five teams in the final tournament. Up to 32 county teams contest the four provincial junior championships with the four respective champions qualifying for the All-Ireland series. The British county teams compete in their own championship and the winners join the other four provincial winners in the final tournament.

Overview
The Championship is a single elimination tournament. Each team is afforded only one defeat before being eliminated from the championship. Pairings for matches are drawn at random and there is currently no seeding. Each match is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn there is a period of extra time, however, if both sides are still level at the end of extra time a replay takes place and so on until a winner is found.

Format
Provincial championships: The provincial championships are played on a straight knockout basis.

Quarter-finals: The British champions and one of the provincial winners teams contest this round. The winners advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The quarter-final winner and the other provincial winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Promotion
At the end of the championship, the winning team is automatically promoted to the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship for the following season.

Qualification
The All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship features five teams in the final tournament. Up to 32 county teams contest the four provincial junior championships with the four respective champions qualifying for the All-Ireland series. The British county teams compete in their own championship and the winners join the other four provincial winners in the final tournament.

2004 Teams
The following teams competed in the 2004 All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship:

List of finals

 * First game disputed – replay ordered

Provincial champions by year
Brackets = representative of province

List of All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship counties
The following teams have competed in the championship for at least one season.